Hello,
My FP3 battery hasn’t charged above 60% for a few days now. Is it time for it to retire?
You could perform a calibration by letting the battery discharge until the phone turns off, and then charge (hopefully) to 100%.
As a rule this is not recommended but it allows the battery’s capacity to be recalibrated.
Also make sure USB port is clean and maybe try using a different cable (valid for data, not just for charging).
Thanks.
It happens whatever the cable.
Is there any way to trigger the battery recalibration via other means? The FP3 is rooted FWIW.
The only other explanations that I can think of would be an erroneous charge level reading or old age.
Could be. How long has it been in use / how many charging cycles? Usually 3 yrs or 1000 cycles is a good guide.
Check for swelling: remove the battery and place on a perfectly smooth flat surface such as (cold) vitroceramic hob. Try to make it spin. If it spins, then it’s time to replace it.
Thanks to your advice, I could recharge it to 100%.
FP3 at least 5-6 years I guess. Battery not swollen, but replaced at one point IIRC.
Just chiming in again to say that the battery life seems to have decreased quite a bit.
Any advice about some place in the OS (LineagoeOS by the way) or some app for confirmation?
Anyway, I feel like I’m gonna need a new battery soon, but the official one is pricey (about 30 €). Checking the french 2nd-hand market at the moment. Any other pointers?
Frankly if you’re going to keep your FP3 going for another couple of years, maybe more, in your place I would get a new battery from the online shop. Second-hand is good for a swappable spare or a spare phone, or when new batteries are no longer available, when we have to “scrape the barrel”.
It is always good to make a backup.
It’s a tough decision. I really do want not to contribute to more e-waste and make my FP3 last so, yes, a new battery is in order.
On the other hand, this old horse struggles to keep up with modern uses (I’m thinking about uses in the likes of Android Auto + Waze + Music player +…), and I wonder if it’s not the moment to bite the bullet, scrap my savings and switch to a FP6 (2nd hand probably if there’s a market for this).
For just a battery change?
No. It is always good to have a backup.
As you have a Fairphone 3 it could be a sign that your phone is getting old.
They recently had some reconditioned FP6 at a reduced price in the online shop I think, but those seem to have gone. There might be another batch at some stage.
Check the forum’s Market category regularly.
I’m not surprised to learn of FP3 struggling a bit with today’s Waze, though a music player should be just fine. You might want to perform a full reset – after following Lidwien’s advice re backup of course.
Before that, use Safe mode to check performance of standard apps, and remove all apps that you don’t need. That can make quite a difference.